If We Were Heroes | ONC2022

chapter three

chapter three: I lose my train of thought to the deep pits of despair

Doug was not a person I would usually call, and to be honest, and I'm not sure I have called him in my life, but I just had to make sure.

Someone picked up. "Hello?" Doug's mom. She sounded nothing like Doug did. She sounded like sunshine and rainbows.

I shifted awkwardly. "Umm, hi, this is Oliver? From Doug's class?"

I could practically hear Doug's mom beaming in delight as she called Doug down. I waited for the thumping down the stairs to end and for Doug to pick up.

"What'd you want?"

Doug's voice was low, as if he were already itching to tip me upside down, empty my pockets, and beat me up.

My voice refused to cooperate. "Uhh."

"If you told my mom anything, you're going to pay Monday," he warned.

"No!" I exclaimed. "I didn't tell her anything!"

Doug's skepticism was clear.

"I was just wondering..." I lowered my voice. "If your foot started hurting? Like out of the blue?"

His shift in attitude was the only answer I needed. I could practically hear his horror. "How'd you know that? My mom tell you?"

I shrugged, forgetting he couldn't see it over the phone. "Just a gut feeling."

A wave of nausea hit me as I realised what I had just done. I needed to sit down. I needed to sit down.

"Bye Doug," I said, hanging up before I could puke.

I had transferred my pain to Doug.

There was no way I could face him on Monday. He was going to kill me. I was going to die.

If my pain was worse, who knows what may have happened to Doug?

What if I'd unknowingly done it to someone else?

What if it was Ethan? Mia?

The edges of my vision began to blur, darkness seeping in like shadows.

I was a monster.

/

The dizziness hit like a rainstorm: cold, scary, and with an outage of power, aka consciousness. I hated rainstorms.

When I did finally manage to sit up, the first thing I saw was Miles, staring up at me in a way that was low-key creepy. My little brother could be very, very weird.

I rubbed my forehead, suspecting an oncoming migraine. 'How long was I out for?'

Miles shrugged. 'Ten or two hours?' Being four, he wasn't the best at telling the time. 'Mom and Dad left ages ago.'

Of course they did. Why would they want to sit around and make sure their eldest son would be alright?

'Mom says we're going to move,' he said. 'To help you control your curse.'

I could hear the invisible air quotes without him doing anything. Then it struck me, and it struck me hard.

'You knew about the curse?'

Miles rolled his eyes. 'Everybody knows about the curse.'

'Except me.'

'Except you.'

Miles stood up, brushing his hands on his pants, as if I'd somehow made them dirty. I'm leaving,' he announced. Drama queen.

'Bye.' I waved, but with no return. That was Miles for you, I went back to staring at the pictures on the wall. The spare room wasn't somewhere I frequently visited, unless I got sick.

He must've run upstairs to Mom, because the next thing I knew, I was being bombarded with visitor after visitor.

One by one, they came, stayed, and moved on, a reflection of what I was used to. Until only Mom was there.

'We just want to protect you, Ol,' she said.

'I know,' I replied. It was barely louder than a whisper.

She placed a hand on my shoulder, a movement that shouldn't have felt as intimate as it did. 'There's a special place for... kids like you.'

'Prison, you mean.'

Mom's eyes widened.

'Kidding.' I flashed her a trickster smile, though it had no real affect.

She shook her head, sighing loud enough for me to hear. 'Seriously Olive, it'll be a great place for you.'

'So it's like... a boarding school?'

'Something like that. The staff are specially trained to help kids deal with losses and more special events.'

'So we're not moving.'

She quipped a weak smile. 'No. You are.'

'I got the jist of that.'

'You know we can't just relocate the entire family, Olive.'

'Yeah, I get it.' I shrugged. 'For the family.' I raised a fist in the air as if I were toasting them in mockery.

My mom stood up, her work with me seemingly done as a tight, a smug smile lining her tired face.

Without another word she walked out of the room, her heels clipping the ground like a ticking bomb.

/

The small amount of stuff in my duffel bag was sad, really, but I honestly didn't own that much stuff worth bringing.

And when she said I would be moving schools, I didn't expect it to be so soon.

Finding Mia after school was one of the tasks I deemed necessary to carry out before I left, and one of the hardest, not just emotionally.

It took me at least half an hour to actually find her, after discovering that waiting by the exit wasn't working. It was then that I found out that Mia took after school violin lessons. Typical.

Her tutor was not exactly pleased to have me interrupt the class, but still allowed me to talk to Mia, not before shouting at her in quick jabs of Korean.

She held her violin by the neck as I told her the news, stomping a foot indignantly when I said I was moving.

'Your mom's a jerk,' she said. 'We'd just met as well.'

I tried to smile. 'Well maybe you could try to convince her.'

Her brow creased in a deep frown. 'Maybe I will.'

She wouldn't. No one would be able to convince my mother.

Our meeting ended with a quick hug as Mia went back to her violin, promising more than once to write.

I waved and began to trudge my way to Ethan's house, a visit I was dreading even more.

date: 1st march 22
word count: 1005
total words: 3369